1. Literacy Continuum K-6 Western Sydney Region – Literacy Background
Developed from the K-2 Literacy Continuum to the K-6 and is in draft for K-10
Literacy continuum underpins all the new NSW syllabuses – currently in draft. (L) in the syllabuses
Literacy is across all KLAs and is more than the English syllabus
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

2. The Literacy continuum K-6 provides…
clear and accessible representation of the development of the critical aspects of literacy across the seven years of primary education
sound research-based evidence to plan teaching to meet individual student needs at all levels
explicit descriptions of the skill and knowledge involved in progressive development and achievement in literacy.
recognises and includes digital literacy across all levels of schooling.
Read slide
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

3. What resources are embedded in the continuum…
The nature and significance of literacy learning
The critical aspects of literacy development
The place of literacy in the curriculum
Literacy learning in the early, middle and later years of schooling
Unconstrained Skills
Comprehension
Vocabulary
Reading Texts
An Introduction to quality literacy teaching 2009
literacy learning
literacy teaching
Considerations for literacy learning and teaching in the classroom
Literacy teaching guide
Phonemic awareness
Phonics
To be released – Concepts of Print
Focus on Reading – explicit teaching of unconstrained skills – comprehension, vocabulary and reading texts.
Constrained Skills
Phonemic awareness
Phonics
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

4. Developmental progression…
The continuum:
is a form of progress map, which can be described as a guide to the kinds of learning experiences likely to be most useful at that stage in the student’s learning and as a basis for monitoring growth
shows a clear progression across the 12 clusters, from prior to school to the end of Year 6.
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Western Sydney Region – Literacy

5. The Continuum – 8 Critical Aspects of Literacy
Reading texts
Comprehension
Vocabulary knowledge
Unconstrained skills
Aspects of writing
Aspects of speaking
Phonics
Phonemic awareness
Constrained skills
Note:
Constrained and unconstrained skills must both be explicitly taught.
Constrained skills must be taught with unconstrained skills. (ie don’t need to learn all constrained skills before the unconstrained skills are to be taught)
Most intervention programs (apart from reading recovery) are focused on only the constrained skills.
The constrained skills should be mastered by the end of Year 2 but as teacher will know this is not necessarily true.
Concepts about print
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

6. 8 Critical Aspects - Definitions Reading Texts Comprehension
‘Texts’ include oral, aural, written, visual, electronic and multimodal texts.
8 Critical Aspects
- Definitions
Reading Texts
involves recognising words automatically, reading in a phrased and fluent way and navigating texts to create meaning.
Comprehension
involves responding to, interpreting, analysing and evaluating texts.
Vocabulary knowledge
involves understanding the meaning of spoken and written words and using words to create and understand texts.
Aspects of writing
involves using spelling, grammar, design features, handwriting and digital tools to create texts for specific purposes.
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Western Sydney Region – Literacy

7. 8 Critical Aspects – Definitions (cont) Aspects of speaking Phonics
‘Texts’ include oral, aural, written, visual, electronic and multimodal texts.
8 Critical Aspects
– Definitions (cont)
Aspects of speaking
Involves using oral language to communicate with others in a range of contexts, and listening actively and attentively when interacting with others.
Phonics
involves making the connection between sounds and letters when reading and spelling.
Phonemic Awareness
involves hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken language.
Concepts of Print
involves understanding and using conventions and concepts about print.
Read slide
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

8. Each aspect needs to be unpacked
One critical aspect at a time.
Unpack the definition
Select the cluster most appropriate for your students. Eg Year 4 class – cluster 9 (end of year 3) – (can move up or down but use as a starting point)
Unpack the cluster markers under the chosen cluster.
Select the marker that needs to be explicitly taught to the majority of your students
Backwards map to the previous cluster the same thread (or idea) and then forwards
State: Don’t try and do too much too quickly.
Link: Now we will look at the critical aspect of Reading Texts
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

9. Reading Texts
- Definition
involves recognising words automatically, reading in a phrased and fluent way and navigating texts to create meaning.
How does this translate into the clusters?
Select one critical aspect
‘reading texts’ critical aspect – definition from the continuum
These are the main ideas in the definition.
Click underline ‘words automatically’
Click underline ‘phrased and fluent’
Click underline ‘create meaning’
Click underline ‘last question’
Link: From the definition of the critical aspect we need to see what that looks like in a cluster.
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

10. Reads for sustained periods (15–20 minutes) and sustains understanding in longer texts over time, e.g. reading short novels
over several days.
Uses visual representations, e.g. photographs, tables, charts to enhance meaning when reading factual texts.
Selects and uses the most effective word identification strategy to maintain fluency and meaning.
Demonstrates an awareness of how to use skimming/scanning and text features such as subheadings to locate specific information.
Uses screen navigation features when reading and viewing Internet texts.
Cluster 9
(end Yr 3)
Look at Cluster 9 in ‘reading texts’.
Generally students will achieve the markers in this cluster by the end yr 3. This may not be the case as there may be gaps in student learning and skill acquisition.
Point out the dots are called markers
Students should achieve all these markers to complete the cluster.
Remember some markers you may have not taught in the past so there probably will be gaps.
Don’t simplify the main ideas.
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

11. Reads increasingly longer novels and subject texts using a range of effective word identification strategies to maintain meaning.
Reads, views and uses a wide variety of literary and factual, print and electronic texts with increasing autonomy, e.g. Extended novels and information texts, video documentaries, multimedia and performance texts, graphic material.
Reads more demanding subject texts that have increasing levels of technicality and abstraction.
Monitors reading for accuracy and meaning by selecting and using appropriate higher order word identification skills such as knowledge of word origins and analogy.
Confidently adjusts the chosen reading/viewing pathway to achieve the intended purpose in literary and factual, print, electronic and multimodal texts.
Cluster 12 (end Yr 6)
The complexity of the skills and strategies are of course higher and more challenging in cluster 12.
Must look at each marker and unpack what it means each statement means.
Need to discuss what does ‘increasingly longer novels’ mean. We need to constantly refer back to the cluster marker in threads in the previous cluster to know what that statement is saying.
Next slide there is an example.
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

12. One marker in ‘Reading Texts’ aspect
Cluster 9
(end yr 3)
Cluster 10 (end yr 4)
Cluster 11 (end yr 5)
Cluster 12 (end yr 6)
Reads for sustained periods (15–20 minutes) and sustains
understanding in longer texts over time, e.g. reading short novels
over several days.
Reads for sustained periods (20–30 minutes) and sustains
understanding in longer texts over time, e.g. reading short novels
over several days.
Reads short novels with minimal illustration, unfamiliar content,
settings and characters and challenging and unusual vocabulary.
Reads increasingly longer novels and subject texts using a range of
effective word identification strategies to maintain meaning.
Track markers across the clusters.
Some are more evident than others.
This is why we need to think about how to track individual students and how to plan teaching to meet student outcomes.
From this you can group your students according to what cluster they are in and what explicit teaching needs to occur.
STATE: We must unpack these cluster markers to examine what the marker means in each cluster. For example what does ‘increasingly longer novels’ mean in the context of the marker. We know from the previous cluster – students should be reading for 20 – 30 mins at a time. What will this look like in your classroom? What routines and structures are needed in modelled, guided and independent reaing?
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

13. Interactive Literacy Continuum K-6
12 cluster markers
(with school year)
8 Critical Aspects
Mention the scroll bar at the bottom to go through the other clusters.
Information how to access the interactive continuum is in your folders
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

14. Select a aspect and cluster.
move up and down the cluster
move left and right of the aspect
select PDF Download to access the teaching ideas.
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

15. The Teaching Ideas attached to the Literacy Continuum K-6 are…
designed to provide students with independent practice of the skills and knowledge described in each marker or cluster of markers
designed to occur after the teacher has provided sufficient modelled and guided experiences of the knowledge and skills described in the markers
provide excellent opportunities for teachers to assess how well each student has achieved the skills and knowledge described in the markers by using observation, interaction and questioning as students are working and by recording their analysis of each student’s achievement.
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

16. Teaching Ideas from Interactive Literacy Continuum K-6
Download the PDF for the selected aspect and cluster
save
print
number of pages
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

17. Examples of Teaching Ideas
Markers for the cluster (in the aspect)
Teaching Ideas with explicit instructions.
Teaching Ideas similar to the ones in SMART.
Hand out Teaching Ideas – reading clusters 1,9, 12
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

18. Key questions to ask yourself
Who is using the Continuum at your school?
Which Critical Aspects (if any) are being avoided?
In your context, how often is the continuum used?
In what ways is the continuum being used?
What students are benefitting from teachers using the continuum?
How can you and your school embed the continuum into current practice?
Western Sydney Region – Literacy

19. Where to next? Discuss the continuum with your colleagues
Further Professional Learning for teachers and literacy leaders around the continuum.
The examples of the tracking sheet will be ed
Further professional learning around the continuum will be published in MyPL and in the Literacy Newsletter.
Contact:
Cheryl Farkas Literacy Consultant K-6
Caroline Hopwood Middle Years Literacy Consultant
Martha-Jean Hynes Literacy Consultant K-4
Cathy Keller Quality Teaching
Western Sydney Region – Literacy